The Matrix: Beyond the Rabbithole
by Eth Orlen
Summary: Just think Alice in Wonderland; Matrix style, prob'ly with some twists and turns along the way. No existing chars are to be used. Rating subject to change


**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Matrix (or the subsequent sequels/prequels). I do not own the characters that reside in these stories, and I do not own the other concepts/movies/games/etc. created by the Wachowski brothers or their affiliates. I do not own Alice in Wonderland. Not the book, movie, or game. I do not own the copyrights, or any other rights, to the afore-mentioned things. I DO, however, own Cameo and the info/concepts/etc. related to him.

Comments, critique, constructive criticism, and just about any other tip or suggestion that'll help me improve this story (or my writing skills in general) are always welcome. Flamers and their flames will be duly ignored. Thanks for stopping to read my fic! Hope you enjoy it!

The Matrix: Beyond the Rabbit Hole 

Setting: Sometime during the first half of Reloaded

Time elapsed: None at all, none at all, for a week, a month, in total

Prologue 

            A young man sits at a small table, alone, the room dark save for a single candle. He scribbles fervently away, muttering to himself every now and again. His short light brown hair is all disheveled (though considering it's usual skewed formation, who can tell?) and his eyes betray the fact that he hasn't been out of this room, out of his chair, for a few days. The table, barely big enough for one person to eat at, is littered with too many stacks of papers. The papers themselves are equally cluttered, covered edge to edge, top to bottom, with various words and symbols. The equations the young man is working on seem to flow from his pencil like water.

            He smiles slightly, some memory or other triggered by his actions. It had been ten long years. Ten years since he'd discovered a way to wirelessly hack into the Matrix. Ten years filled with disappointment and discovery; frustration and ridicule; despair and chaos. Ten years as one of the best hackers in the Matrix. He couldn't count how many jobs he'd pulled off; couldn't count how many times he'd caused havoc for the machines to clean up. But all those seemed like petty, childhood crimes now; nothing more than a few petty annoyances he'd caused. The sentinels were boring, carving a path to Zion. Unstoppable they seemed now, the danger imminent. He could see but one solution: He must learn how to break the code, to twist, contort, control, _use_ the Matrix. Without that, he may as well be a child glued to a pilot's seat; nothing more than a burden, a nusience, only in the way.

            He scowled, thinking of what would happen if the sentinels made it to Zion. Six months of research, with nothing to show for it. Six months wasted. He suddenly looked up, grabbing a stack of paper and sifting through it. He selects one and begins pouring over it every now and again going back to the paper he'd been writing on. There had to be some way to cheat the programming. Some uber loophole. Some virus he could insert or a reprogramming job he could do. He sighed deeply, putting both papers down and rocking back in his chair. He'd been at this too long. His brain was dead and his eyes felt like they'd pop out. Maybe it was time to take a little vacay. Get some R&R in the System. Hack into a bank or two, maybe speed-play his way to the top of an online game. He smiled slightly. Yes, this would quite entertaining. He let the chair back down and settled into his seat. Slowly, he closed his eyes. His body relaxed, sinking into the chair. But he couldn't feel it. He could feel nothing but the rush of flying through cyberspace. He sped from the room, the greens and blues of the Matrix flashing past. He was gone, gone from this world, gone: into the Matrix.

To Be Continued… 

Well, I think I'll leave it at that for now. I'd like to see what kind of reactions I get ^_^

**Note:** I'd like to apologize ahead of time for any slowness in releasing chapters. I'm a slow writer anyways, and I'm having to read Alice in Wonderland, interpret and understand it (which is almost impossible considering it's all nonsense), decide how to adapt it, then write/type it all up *grin* Yah, haha, this'll take a while.


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